Open Post | Thursday, May 8th (UPDATE 2:26 pm)

Image of Cassius Peat via Yahoo Sports

– On a tip from a reader in yesterday’s Open Post comments section, we checked with Ohio ILB Nick Conner. It appears that Coach Kish did indeed stop by Dublin, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus) to check out Conner. He (Conner) said that an offer hasn’t come yet, but that Kish will continue to evaluate him. Looking at some of the ILBs that Kish has been visiting – guys like Jordan Griffin, Jordan Jones (offer) and now Nick Conner – it would appear they are looking for your more traditional odd front ILBs, as opposed to the more undersized rangy LBs we’ve seen them go after in the past.

– I checked in with OLB Cassius Peat out of Tempe Arizona and it sounds like Coach Kish will be by to visit him today. This will be Peat’s first in-person meeting with OU LB coach, though he is familiar with Kish since one of Peat’s brothers was recruited by him in the past. Peat has a brother who plays at Stanford and a brother who plays at Nebraska, so clearly he isn’t tied to one program and the family isn’t opposed Cassius leaving the state.

Peat’s interest in Oklahoma is very real, and I believe he, along with Bo Wallace and Louis Brown, are OU’s top Jack LB targets. Cassius said he will take an unofficial visit out to Oklahoma this summer. If that goes well, he plans on using an official visit to make a second trip to Norman. Ideally, he wants to take two visits to the school of his choice. Peat holds Oklahoma and its brand/tradition in high regard. That’s a good sign because I think that tradition and brand is oftentimes lost on some recruits, or just not as relevant as we might like it to be.

– Last week we introduced y’all to 2015 Millwood HS Dlineman, Joshua Little. Later today we’ll have a write-up on the athletic 6’4″ 230 lb lineman, but I wanted to give a quick update on how things are going on the recruiting front. In the past week, Purdue and Coach Shipp at Arizona State have begun to show interest in Joshua. And it appears they will be out to visit him at Millwood in the next few weeks. We’d love to see another Oklahoma HS recruit pull an out-of-state BCS level offer!

– UPDATE (2:01 pm): 2015 DT & OU offer, the “in order” part of the tweet is somewhat worrisome considering where the Sooners fall in that list.

UPDATE (2:13 pm): Tim Settle had told the OU coaches that he’d be taking an official visit along with Ricky Deberry to Oklahoma to watch OU play the Vols. Based on that list it would seem that isn’t going to happen but I’ll check with him.

UPDATE (2:26 pm): Thanks to vargo for the heads up in the comments section below. Recent OU ILB offer Jordan Jones has committed to the University of Kentucky. Jones plays at Cardinal Mooney in Ohio.

38 Comments

  • Gary Robbins says:

    Maybe I’ve just missed it, but haven’t heard much about Bedenbaugh out on the recruiting trail.

  • BigJoeBrown says:

    Can someone help me out? What is the difference between official visits and unofficial. Can OU or a player only make a certain amount of official visits?

    • vargo05 says:

      A unofficial is paid for by the player or his family. They can take as many of those as they can afford. The official is paid for by the school and a player can only take 5 officials.

    • Jordan Esco says:

      What vargo said

      • Zack says:

        Is there a limit to how many official visits the school can host.

        • Jordan Esco says:

          As far as I know, the only limitation on the school’s part would be if it was handed down as part of a probation or something like that.

  • vargo05 says:

    Looks like Jordan Jones committed to Stoops today. Unfortunately, it was Mark Stoops and Kentucky.

  • Zack says:

    This is somewhat disappointing. Tim settle’s top 15 in order.

    • Jordan Esco says:

      So, yeah, um, about all those days he spent in Norman. Behind OSU?!?

      • Super K says:

        Something happened. That just seems intentional.

        • bmrsnr says:

          Ohio State is off the list, they were once thought to be the leader…might be something.

      • Gary Robbins says:

        Everybody keeps telling me not to worry about OU recruiting, it’s early and a long way off till February. Have you read any articles about Bedenbaugh on the recruiting trail during this open period. 247 Sports has OU rated at 46 in the country. Out of 120 offers we have 3 commits. I sure hope everybody is right. Tennessee and Penn State are doing great and what did they do last year.

        • Zack says:

          Maybe those campuses have been alive when recruits have gone. Let’s face it Norman is kinda boring when football season is over and these kids want to feel like they’re in a movie or something or a rap video.
          But when it’s all said and done in February ou will have 25 or so kids we will all be excited about and hopefully they will be excited to be at ou.

    • Zack says:

      And even better looks like he and Mckenzie agree on number 1.

  • Kamiar Mehrabian says:

    anybody else getting concerned with OUs depth on the O-Line with the recent release of Kyle Marrs?

    • Zack says:

      Not me. Not this year at least maybe 2015 or 2016 will be a concern to me the oline has a lot of juniors and seniors right now.

      • Kamiar Mehrabian says:

        that’s what I’m referencing. 2014 is not really a concern, 2015+ is. Looks like Stoops is going to have to grab some JUCO kids.

        • Zack says:

          Yeah but if they can keep or get all the kids from this class eligible (brown has been a question mark) then they should have some young guys ready to step up.

  • L'carpetron Dookmarriot says:

    Clearly is not looking to get far away from the East Coast.

    • Super K says:

      I think there is more to this story. Putting OU at #15 seems very intentional.

  • Jeremy Phillips says:

    Top 15’s are a joke.. let me know when he gets to 3 or 5…

  • j l says:

    I hope stoops runs up the score on the vols and TTU. Maybe watching their team get thrashed dosent change these kids minds, but it cant hurt. its frustrating watching all these schools which cant hold a candle to us over the last 15 years have kids flocking to them. I just dont get it.

  • James D-Space says:

    15? #15? Really?
    I’m generally pretty open minded about a kids choice, but…….gimme a break.
    Thank you for your consideration Tim (sarcasm)!

  • Jake says:

    He said in order, but he didn’t say what order. Maybe he likes to go bottom to top?

  • JrsySooner says:

    Some and I mean some just dont get Oklahoma football. This has been a sore spot for me for decades, fair weather fans with doubt on their mind. How can you as a fan question recruiting when OU has put more people in the NFL the last ten years than every single SEC team, Texass USC FSU do your research only Miami comes close.
    The team reads these boards from time to time and I imagine they get sick of seeing all this crap about OU and its lack of recruting, last time I looked we just smoked OSU at home and beat the media darling in Alabama the most powerful team in college the past 10 years oh BTW for the 3rd straight time.
    I trust our coaches, we have been to 4 title games and won 8 Big 12 Championships
    i’ll worry about recruiting when we stop winning 11 games a year…
    I appreciate every single kid we get, I dont care if the kid has no stars, as long as this staff
    has faith and confidence in them so do I!
    I’m not disappointed kids back out and I dont care if we are #15 on a kids list because that tells me one thing for sure, they don’t know Oklahoma football and it’s history and if they dont have that love and passion ala Blake Bell, Tery Millard the Moderators here then they should have a top 15
    Tellling me as a kid that OU has 7 titles, 16 recognized by the NCAA and put below into the NFL without a highly ranked recruiting class tells me the are organized, focused and have a commaradity that is unmatched in 99% of colleges today….
    Adrian Peterson, the #1 player in the NFL as ranked by peers and media alike
    Sam Bradford #1 pick Rams
    Trent Williams, rated #1 Offensive lineman in the NFL
    DeMarrco Murray #3 rated running back in the NFL starter for the Cowboys
    Gerald McCoy
    Tommi Harris
    Kenny Stills do i really have to keep going or do you nay-sayers FINALLY GET IT
    BOOMER SOONER
    PS. Where the heck is the spell checker?